Supporting holder for container blanks



y 1952 SCHICK 2,604,621

SUPPORTING HOLDER FOR CONTAINER BLANKS Filed Aug. 2, 1950 2 SHEETSSHEET1 IN V EN TOR. Andre S chick ATTORNEY July 22, 1952 A. scl-ucKSUPPORTING. HOLDER FOR CONTAINER BLANKS 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed Aug. 2,1950 6g ATTORNEY k m c -Sm\ m A Patented July 22, 1952' ,acoaoizilfjSUPBQRTIN 'HOLDER'TORwonrmmtn;

Andre=Scliicln;Lausanneg Switzerland; I

Application August. 2, 1950; Serial mass; 7 In-'FranceMarclr-Hl; 1950This inventionzrelatesto q a special; holder. or support for container?blanks which; enables a salesperson to form the blank progressively intobox-like ;-format thetimewhe sale is' made.

The handling ofcontainer cardboard blanks us'ed'for packingchoiceefoodstuifs; moreparticul'arly articles of pastry;- requires'agreat-deal obdexterity n the part of the sales-ladywho has toholdthepartiallyiormed boxe-in equilibrium; keep it from gettingsoiled.whilerthesbuyer makes his choice, fold'jthe flaps of the sheetvof cardboard; and hook the flaps; together after the container iscompleted. True, there existmeans intended to: fold the edges-of the:cut-outsheets of cardboard. Thereis, ,for instance; a device or formresembling a food: ,plate into which the Dre-cut card-board blank is:previously inserted" for the "purpose-of raising the, four corners andthus to give the cardboard the shape of a pack+ ing box. This procedure.has the disadvantage,

however, that the cardboard mustv subsequently removed from the form beindependently manipulated=by--hand as, a separateoperation in ordertofill thebox :with merchandiseand close it., Moreoventhismethod-ofgetting; the box ready; requires a different plate for-everysize; inother words, there will be as manyplates'as there are packing sizes.This takesupspace;

To eliminate the foregoing objections, the present invention; has "foritsobject ta supporting holder designed-to: assist in folding. containerblanks madexfromcut-out sheets .of cardboard. This. device mayrbe'used"? to fold, depending on requirements'rineaoh instance; eitheriasingle size ofv card-board box blank :or' several 'diffierent sizes:with: the same. device and to' support: the bl'anksduring the variousstages of its manipulation', i." e., while it is beingrfilled" withmerchandiselandsubsequently closed.

The accompanying 'drawingvshowss diagrammatically and'by Way of'example;two-forms: of execution of the'deviceincorporatingr the-features' of theinvention.

Irrthedrawing:

Of Fig; 2;

Fig. 5' is a top view, on a reducedscale, of a blank in the formofaspread-out'sheet. of icard-r board with cut-out portionsa-ndfold-lines;such as: must be fashioned in order tobe: usable: with the; supportingholder shown: in,..Figs-: .194;

r 6 cl ims. (ones-. 49)

. 1 EigSs: 6 8,-ar.eviews; showing various-:.-i-nterme-t dia-te; stages10f 'folding; the sheet of:.cardboard of Eigt, 5- by'means of thesupportingholder with axviewto finally obtaining; thesultimate-configuration of--the--container representedv in Fig; '8;

' 9 is :a side elevation :of axsecond' embodi mentior a.supportingholden making. itv possible toobtain containers-of severalsizes.

Fig. 10 is a plan viewofFig. -9-.sho.wing-'in dot-dash 1111133" aninter-mediate: position: of." the extensible membersz; I i 7 -F'ig-.- 11is aivertical: section along line ofFigalQ; r

Fig. 1-2-;is-a fragmentary view-otFig, 10,showing the structure-of: thehandle from the" inner 1 3 '15. ahorizontal" view,; frombelow; of; afragmentofFig.l0. v v

' Similar-reference characters designate corre* sponding parts 2throughout: the; drawings.

According to" the first form'ofthe invention shownin Figs. l -t thesupporting holder is in one piecerand in" bothforms resembles a=fork',or scoop. For example; the devices is made in;a single -pieceof'lig-ht-Weight' -meta-l-. by, stamping and folding' and issubsequentlyplatedr, with chromium or n-ickel to. render it rustproof: It

could also "be molded in: synthetic material- The-essential parts-of thesupporting holder shown in theadrawings consist ina bottom, wall I, withthe center part cutawayso asatoproe v ide two lateral arms 2 and. 3,.andits rear.- part bent upwardtor-form avertical wall 4., the upper end5 of whichis then-rounded backwardaand downward to provide; ahandle to:hold -the.,sup

porting holder once the sheet of cardboard-"has been engagedthereim-From eitherside of; the vertical, back wall. 4 extends the arms orblankhold-down strips -6 and-1 l, respectively, bent at right" angles,forwardiy-toterminate-in atapering end: in the shapeof a hook 8;Thesestripsfi and 7- are flanked on the. outside by side wall formingflanges 9 v and I-O', respectively, slightly. curved inwardly andformedtat-the lateral. edges-of bottom-l which are .turned up verticallyto constitute; together withstrim fiand l guiding'slots for oneofstheembryo side wallsof the blank, as willhereinafter be describedmoredetail. The --forward-endsll of these flanges in. the shape-of.aapointedwspoon are separated from arms 2 and. 3, respectively, by aslot I2 to permit't the r engagement of the adjacent, sidewalls of:the-. sheet of-v cardboard. in the. supporting holder; 7 thesesidewalls, being. thus guided. by said -.spoon portions ll into-verticalposition,

above described, is shown in Fig. in its spreadout state. Therectangular bottom of this sheet comprises a fold line, indicated in thedrawing by V a rectangular brok en line I4. This fold line is outwardlysurrounded by an oblong rectangle I 5, concentric and parallel'with foldline I4, and also shown in the drawing by another broken line. Byinserting the sheet of cardboard into the sup-' porting holder, it iscreased or folded along'three sides of the broken line I4, namely,theback and two sides, thereby first forming three vertical walls I8around what then becomes the final rectangular bottom wall. Bycontinuingthe folding along the other or front broken line ,I4 and thenfolding all four side walls on the, outer.

. posite verticalwalls I8 and I8" by slots having at their inner end'arecess I9 for'the purpose of engaging'hook's 8'of thesupporting holderin the cardboard so as'to produce the container. Final- 1y;- the ends offlaps l'I-are' 'provided with slots I9 to form closing hooks. makingit'possible mutually to engage opposite 'flaps'soas to close thecontainer for transp'ort-ation.

The successive stages of folding'the cardboard container blank shown inFig.5 and described aboveare'carried out with the aid of the supportingholder, as will be seen from Figs. 6 to 8. The first stage, Fig. 6,shows how the supporting holder engages by means'of its hooks 3, therecesses 1 9' of the blank. By" pushing the support ingholder all theway in the direction of arrow 1, the lateral walls I8, l8, and I8"located'between fold lines I4 and I5, are automatically raised aroundbottom wall I3 under the action of the spoon portions I I of flanges 9and ID, so that the sheet of cardboard assumes the shape of a box closedon three sides. The fourth side remains open, that is, in the'plane ofbottom wall I3. Consequently the merchandise can now be introducedhorizontally from that side, while one holds the container, retained bythe supporting holder, conveniently with the other hand, as shown inFig. '7. The fourth wall 'I8' is then bottom consisting of two halves 2I, 22, thus forming two lateral arms 2| and 22', respectively. These twohalves are secured to a crosspiece serving the purpose of a handle andcomprising three sections, namely, a middle section 23 and two movablelateral blocks or sections 24 and 25, located on either side of' thhiiddlejsection. The

'three sections are aligned end to end so as to form an extensible crossmember. They are assembled by means of a sheath 26, secured at 21 tothe-middle section 23.

Sections 24 and 25, which can be displaced in A sheath 25, are mutuallyconnected by a guide strip 28, embedded -or countersunk under the saidsections. ,Strip 2B is provided with slots 29 in which fixing screws 30or the movable sections 24 and folded, and tabs I6 are introduced intothe interi'or'of' the container. Finally, the salesperson mutuallyengages hooks I9 of each pair of opposite flaps I 'Iso as to ensure theperfect closing of the container, as shown in Fig. 8. The supportingholder of the't'ype above described permits only of folding cardboardblanks of which one of the bottom'dimensions I3 (Fig. 5) remainsconstant. In fact, that dimension must correspond to the spacing betweenflanges 9 and I0; in other word's,-the distance between recesses I9 ofthe slots separating flaps I1 and tabs I6 cannot vary for a givensupporting'holder. This means that in practice the same supportingholder can be used only for blanks whose bottom may' vary' in a singledimension-lengthwise, for example, whereas thewidth'must conform to thedistance between lateral strips 6 and I of the supporting holder. Ifcontainers with different width are desired, it will be necessary to usein each instance a different supporting holder, i e. one correspondingto the distance between strips 6 andl. r f

The form of embodiment shown in Figs. 9-13 remedies the aforementioneddisadvantages, since it relates to a supporting holder with extensibleflanges. In these figures the device comprisesa 25 can slide. On theother hand, sheath 26, in turn, is provided with slots 3|, in whichheaded screws 32 can slide, thus securing the movable sections 24 and 25to the sheath.

The'l'ateral sides of arms 2| and 22 are'fashioned-in the same manner asthose of the first form ot execution previously described. *The lateraledges of the two halves 2I and 22, which constitute the bottom, as wellas arms 2 I and 22' are-bent at right angles upward to form at eitherside flanges 3'3 and 34, respectively, slightly arched at their freeends to resemble a spoon. Adja cent to each flange and within theoutline of thc supporting holder is a strip 35, of the same length andextending in the same direction as the flanges, with its free endtapered and slightly twisted so as to raise, in cooperation with thearched part 'of the flanges, the sides of the blank which has to betransformed into a'container or packing box. These strips are securedeach to one of the movable sections 24 and 25, respectivea As pointedout above, "the supporting holde just described is extensible, sincearms 2 I' and 22' can be moved relative to each other in such a way asto render the holder adaptable to diflerent sizes of cut-out sheets ofcardboard. An intermediate position of adjustment is represented indot-dash lines in Fig. 10, showing at 33 and 34' the position of flanges33 and 34 and, at 35", the adjusted position of hook 35. In thisinter-'- mediate position, sections 24 and 25 of the handle are showndisplaced to 24 and 25, respectively. When a container is to be madefrom a sheet of cardboard cut out to certain dimensions, the sec tions24 and 25 of the extensible supporting holder are manually adjusted insuch a way asto make the ends of strips 35 correspond with the distancebetween recesses I9 (Fig. 5) provided'at the base of the slotsseparating tabs I6 from the closing flaps of the sheet of cardboard.This adjustment is accomplished by spacing the movable sections asrequired so that the outline of the supporting holder will correspond tothe distance between recesses I9 located on the same side of theadjacent flap. The free ends of strips 35 are then introduced into therecesses of the sheet of cardboard, by holding with one hand the'supporting holder and with the other hand holding the blank and thenpushing thelatter slightly, so as to cause the stripsto enter therecesses. The arched configuration of flanges 33, 34,.which cooperatewith the'strips 35, results in the 'two sides of the blank engaged inthe supporting holder being raised, whereas the third side is raised-byencountering the resistance of the back wall having the handle. We nowhave three vertical walls for the container. The fourth side oppositethe one engaged between flanges 33 and 34 is left fiat so as to permitintroduction of the merchandise to be packed into the container.

. After the container has been filled, it is closed by fitting togetherthe hooks of the flaps raised by the flanges, whereupon the supportingholder is withdrawn so as to disengage the container which thus assumesthe shape of a box with quadrangular base and with an arched top.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that this extensible or adjustableform of the invention makes it possible to prepare, with the samesupporting holder, a greater variety of containers by using differentsize blanks with varying spacing of the slots.

I claim:

1. A supporting holder for container blanks, comprising, a bottom wall,a. back wall, a handle on the back wall, blank hold-down stripsextending forwardly from the back wall, and side wall forming flangescarried by opposite sides of the bottom wall, said flanges being turnedupwardly and spaced outwardly from the strips to provide a guideway forreceiving the side wall portions of a blank and turning them upwardlywhile the bottom portion of the blank is held against the bottom wall bysaid strips.

2. A supporting holder according to claim 1,

, wherein, the bottom wall is in the form of a fork.

3. A supporting holder according to claim 1,

wherein, the handle is formed integrally with said back wall.

4. A supporting holder according to claim 1, wherein, said strips aretapered toward their front ends and formed with hooks for engaging aportion of the blank.

5. A supporting holder according to claim 1, wherein, the flanges are ofarcuate formation vertically and also tapering forwardly after thefashion of a spoon, and the tips of the flanges are notched inwardly attheir forward ends relative to the related portion of the bottomwall.

6. A supporting holder for container blanks, comprising, a bottom wallincluding separable sections, a handle unit adjustably connecting saidsections, said unit including a pair of aligned blocks secured at theirforward ends to a related bottom wall section and each having adownwardly opening recess, a sheath underlying the front, top and backportions of the blocks to span 'guideways With the strips for receivingthe side wall portions of a blank and turning them upwardly while thebottom portion of the blank is held against the bottom wall by saidstrips.

ANDRE SCHICK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 952,967 Walter Mar. 22, 19102,211,488 Bergstein Aug. 13, 1940 2,478,631 Landalt Aug. 9, 1949

